Difference between revisions of "Creating a Creature"

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Duplicate of https://github.com/Tuxemon/Tuxemon/wiki/creating-creatures
#REDIRECT[[Creating Creatures]]
 
= Making a Creature =
 
This is a guide to creating your own creatures for the Tuxemon open source monster battling game. We are pretty tolerant of designs that vary from these specifications, and we’re always happy to help out with advice and feedback.
 
You don’t have to do all of these steps yourself! Just post whichever you feel like doing, and we might be able to find someone to help fill in the rest.
 
== Design ==
 
It is difficult to provide concrete advice for the design of a tuxemon. Look at other monster battling games, especially Pokemon, and think about:
 
* What the creatures are based on: puns (like Farfetch’d), obscure animals, animals with an elemental twist, etc.
* How they are represented: How detailed are they? How are complex concepts communicated in simple shapes? How cute are they? Is there a difference between how basic Pokemon, first stage Pokemon and second stage Pokemon are depicted?
* What is added to the Pokemon to make it distinctive, appealing and iconic
* What is missing from Pokemon that might be added to other cartoon creatures: What is the Pokemon style?
 
[http://blazeknight-94.deviantart.com/art/Fakemon-Tutorial-283276446 blazeknight-94’s tutorial] describes six origins:
 
* Logical associations
* Shape associations
* Cliches
* Behavioural associations
* Famous character tributes
* Puns
 
[http://frozenfeather.deviantart.com/art/eye-chart-251804495 FrozenFeather’s eye chart] could be useful.
 
=== Mechanical Conceit ===
 
It is also possible to start your design from the other direction: choose a mechanical role that you want the creature to play in battle, and then design it from the bottom up.
 
This is the approach of the [http://www.smogon.com/cap/ Create-a-Pokemon project].
 
=== Name ===
 
There are no hard-and-fast rules for names, but consider:
 
* Tuxemon on the same evolutionary chain often have similar names
* Names are often based on puns or references
* Names are often compounds of two different words
 
[http://blazeknight-94.deviantart.com/art/Fakemon-Tutorial-283276446 blazeknight-94’s tutorial] describes four naming conventions:
 
* Pure word associations
* Clever word associations
* Anagrams
* Saying misspellings
 
=== Type(s) ===
 
In Tuxemon, there are five types, and a tuxemon can belong to one or two of them:
 
* '''Fire:''' Includes creatures associated with energy, like electricity and heat, dragons and other legendary beings, and poison.<br />
 
* '''Water:''' Includes creatures associated with the sea, lakes and swamps, ice and snow, the weather, and fish and amphibians.
* '''Wood:''' Includes creatures associated with plants, lichen and fungi, forests, the natural environment, the wind and flying, and the wilderness.
* '''Earth:''' Includes creatures associated with the ground and underground, dirt and soil, mountains and rocks, caves, and ancient and buried things.
* '''Metal:''' Includes creatures associated with steel, darkness, mechanical and robotic things, psychic powers and other unnatural things, humankind, and the undead.
 
 
 
=== Evolutions ===
 
A creature can have any number of evolution options. However, it will typically not evolve more than twice. For example, Botbot can evolve into Beaverbot, Fishbot, Petbot or Monkeybot. However, once it’s evolved into one of those, it cannot evolve again.
 
An unevolved tuxemon is in its “basic stage”. A tuxemon that has evolved once is in its “first stage”; if it has evolved twice, it is in its “second stage”.
 
Evolution can result from the tuxemon reaching a certain level, from it consuming a particular item, or from some other criterion being satisfied.
 
== Illustration ==
 
There is a distinctive style, the “Sugimori style”, that Tuxemon is sometimes faithful to.
 
There are many tutorials for this style. My preferred one is:
 
* [http://nachtbeirmann.deviantart.com/art/Ken-Sugimori-Tutorial-Pt-1-420735324 NachtBeirmann’s]
 
Also useful are:
 
* [http://phatmon.deviantart.com/art/Phatmon66-s-Tutorial-on-Ken-Sugimori-style-art-436043210 Phatmon’s]
* [http://jellojolteon2000.deviantart.com/art/A-GIMP-Sugimori-Walkthrough-256907607 JelloJolteon2000’s]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O13LCI192I imp709’s video tutorial]
* [http://jesgrad07.deviantart.com/art/Fakemon-Tutorial-138143305 jesgrad07’s]
* [https://oripoke.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/fakemon-designs-masking-dramsama/ oripoke’s]
 
=== Software ===
 
I use Krita, but others work in GIMP, Photoshop or other drawing software.
 
== Sprites ==
With enough time and practice, anyone can make sprites. Your first attempts at spriting may be met with criticism, but this criticism should be viewed constructively to help make your sprites better. Ignore the people who say "it's garbage" and take the advice of the others where you can. No one can sprite perfectly at first.
 
Sprites should ideally be done using the Tuxemon Default Palette ([http://www.tuxemon.org/files/Tuxemon.gpl download it as a GPL file]).
 
https://camo.githubusercontent.com/ade59ce282fc46512b80e3a26980c095cd13d6e1/68747470733a2f2f692e696d6775722e636f6d2f36436b4e5243392e706e67
 
Alternatively, artwork colors can be converted to fit the Tuxemon palette by using the [https://github.com/ShadowApex/pysnesify PySNESify] utility, which will change each pixel color to its closest color available from the SNES/GBA era platforms.
 
Sprites should be saved as PNG files. Do not save them as JPG files: they will lose quality. The PNG format is a lossless image format that will make sure that your images do not degrade in quality when you save them.
 
=== Software ===
 
I recommend [http://www.aseprite.org/ Aseprite], but any painting program can be used.
 
=== Battle Sprites (Front and Back Sprites) ===
 
Front and back sprites are 64 by 64 pixels.
 
'''Light Source:''' Upper left corner.
 
'''Angle:''' The tuxemon should be facing the viewer, but at an angle so the left side of its body is also partly visible.
 
'''Techniques:''' [http://www.yarrninja.com/pixeltutorial/chapter12.htm Sel-out], Minimal Dithering, No Anti-Aliasing
 
'''Colour Palette:''' 16 colours selected from the palette, including white, almost-black and transparency.
 
==== Sizes ====
 
Although the total canvas is 64 by 64 pixels, only the largest tuxemon should fill up the entire space.
 
The smallest creatures should occupy about 40 by 40 pixels, with small-to-medium creatures occupying 48 by 48 and medium-to-large ones 56 by 56.
 
[[File:http://tuxemon.referata.com/w/images/sizes.png|frame|none]]
 
The back sprite should fill about about the same amount of the canvas as the front sprite does. Generally, the back sprite is of the head and shoulders.
 
The only edge that should be cut off is the bottom. For example, this sprite is incorrect because the left-hand-side is cut off:
 
[[File:http://tuxemon.referata.com/w/images/Nemo01-back.png|frame|none]]
 
==== Tutorials ====
 
My preferred tutorial is:
 
* [http://the-godlings-rapture.deviantart.com/art/Spriting-Fakemon-Tutorial-V-3-280927794 The-Godlings-Rapture]
 
Other good ones include:
 
* [http://blazeknight-94.deviantart.com/art/Fakemon-Tutorial-283276446 blazeknight-94’s]
* [http://www.dragonflycave.com/recoloring.aspx Dragonfly Cave includes good basic skills on outlines, shading, etc.]
* [http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=176686 Chesu’s spriting series]
 
=== Face Sprites ===
 
Face sprites are two frames of an animation, saved as two separate 24 by 24 pixel PNG files.
 
The face should fill most of the canvas, regardless of the size of the tuxemon.
 
The faces are animated, but it is okay for them to move by only a pixel or two. For example, to represent bobbing just move the image in the second sprite up by one pixel.
 
Generally, sel-out is not necessary for an image this size. A uniform almost-black outline is fine.
 
The light source, if one exists, should be by the top-left.
 
Typically, the face is drawn as if the creature were facing directly ahead, but the same angle that is used in the sprites (facing the left of the viewer) is also acceptable.
 
== Rules ==
 
A tuxemon’s stats and other in-game rules are defined in a JSON text file in the game’s <code>resources/db/monster</code> folder.
 
Tuxemon have a number of stats:
 
* Type(s)<br />
 
* ID<br />
 
* Weight<br />
 
* Attack*
* Defense*
* HP*
* Special Attack Base*
* Special Defense*
* Speed*
* XP Give Modifier<br />
 
* XP Require Modifier
 
* These stats also have a range of stat modifiers, to reflect how the stat changes as the creature levels ups.
 
We haven’t set particular rules for stats yet. Just assign what you believe makes sense.
 
=== Techniques ===
 
We haven’t set particular rules for techniques yet. Just assign what you believe makes sense.
 
== Other Details ==
 
At the moment, we do not describe or create cries, body shapes, egg groups, etc., for tuxemon.
 
On the wiki we do record a tuxemon’s “species name” - a word or two that describes an aspect of their nature. It is used in the format: “The X Tuxemon”, like “The Flame Tuxemon” or “The Dark Forest Tuxemon”.
 
It’s okay for multiple tuxemon - even unrelated tuxemon - to have the same species name.
 
== Distribution ==
 
When you’ve created your tuxemon (or part of it), you should:
 
* Upload any sprites and illustrations to the wiki
* Post about it on a new thread in the forums
 
You might also want to post it on [https://www.reddit.com/r/fakemon r/fakemon] or on DeviantArt. When I do this, I include a little link back to the project so we can promote Tuxemon.
 
=== Directly adding them to the Tuxemon game ===
 
Upload the creature’s JSON file to the <code>resources/db/monster</code> folder and the creature’s four PNG sprites (two face sprites, front sprite, back sprite) to the <code>resources/gfx/sprites/battle</code> folder.
 
To test out your new creature in Tuxemon, you’ll need to use the [http://www.mapeditor.org Tiled map editor] to edit one of the existing maps in <code>resources/maps</code> and add an '''event action''' to add your new creature to your party! For more information on adding event actions and conditions to a map, check out the [[map-editor-events|Quests/Events]] page.
 
[[File:http://www.tuxemon.org/images/wiki/tutorial/action_example.png|frame|none|alt=|caption get-monster]]
 
Now when you launch Tuxemon, get your newly created monster and enter combat to see them in action!

Latest revision as of 00:57, 15 August 2021

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